Where Did the Zags Go Wrong?
And whether a conference change is the answer.
Thun-der. Thun-der.
Inside the McCarthy Athletic Center on game day, hundreds of students jump up and down, pounding their body weight against the bleachers all at once to the tune of the pre-game anthem known as Zombie Nation. The Gonzaga men’s basketball team is gearing up to go — and as the top-dog of the West Cost Conference, the odds are in their favor.
This past basketball season, the Zags were bestowed quite a lot of media attention indeed. Public figures from Jimmy Fallon to Barack Obama were declaring Gonzaga as their personal choice to win the entire NCAA March Madness tournament. And yet, the team was bested in the Sweet Sixteen.
How did this happen? The Zags have ranked #1 in the West Coast conference for three straight years now, and have several other regular season titles under their collective belt over the years (5 total just since 2013). Some fans have begun speculating (or hoping for) a change in conference.
Certain fans and sports analysts believe that Gonzaga’s losses in March Madness as of late are due to a lack of genuine competition in their own WCC. The teams they compete against make it easy for the Zags to secure a #1 seed position, but leave them woefully unprepared to face the country’s other best teams on a national…
